TOKYO — October 14, 2026 — HULINKS Inc. (Headquarters: Chuo-ku, Tokyo; President: Hiroki Uchiyama; hereinafter "HULINKS"), a developer and distributor of scientific software, today announced the upcoming release of TFCalc V5.0, a major update to its optical thin-film coating design, analysis, and optimization software, available on October 27, 2026.
Originally developed by Software Spectra, Inc. in the U.S. and long trusted worldwide as an industry-standard tool for optical thin-film design, TFCalc’s development and business operations have been fully succeeded by HULINKS by HULINKS. TFCalc is designed to calculate optical characteristics—such as reflectance, transmittance, absorptance, phase shift, electric field, and color—for dielectric and metallic coatings, while optimizing coating designs containing up to 5,000 layers. Known for its high computational accuracy and analytical capabilities, TFCalc is used by academic institutions and corporate R&D teams worldwide and has supported numerous research papers and conference presentations.
TFCalc V5.0 is a major upgrade from the current version, TFCalc V3.6. With a redesigned user interface and improvements to analysis and visualization, V5.0 makes thin-film design workflows more intuitive while retaining the established calculation methods and numerical behavior of the previous version.
Key Highlights of TFCalc V5.0
A More Efficient Design Workflow: Manage multiple thin-film designs in a single window and edit tabular data using familiar spreadsheet operations.
Clearer Visualization and Deeper Analysis: Examine wavelength-dependent optical properties across incident angles using new 3D surface plots, and identify suitable materials more quickly with wavelength-based filtering.
More Flexible Performance and Accuracy: Choose between speed-priority and precision-priority calculation modes to suit exploratory design work and final verification.
Academic Pricing: Special pricing is available for eligible Faculty, researchers, and students at universities, technical colleges, and public research institutions.
Background of Development
As optical devices become increasingly complex, thin-film designers need to evaluate simulation results more quickly and explore design alternatives more efficiently. In response to long-standing user requests for more intuitive operation and more versatile analysis, HULINKS has reworked the software architecture and redesigned the user interface to better support modern thin-film design workflows.
Key Features of TFCalc V5.0
1. Redesigned User Interface
Multi-Document Interface (MDI): Users can now arrange layer configurations, plots, and results for multiple designs within a single parent window, significantly improving visibility and multitasking.
Excel-Like Spreadsheet Interface: Tabular windows handling layer configurations, targets, and material data have been completely revamped. Operations such as direct cell editing, range selection, auto-fill, copy/paste integration with external software, and full Undo/Redo history tracking now offer a seamless, Excel-like experience.
Bilingual UI Support: The user interface is now available in both English and Japanese, switchable within the application.
2. Enhanced Analysis & Visualization Capabilities
All-New 3D Surface Plots: Users can now view spectral characteristics across wavelength and incident angle as a 3D surface, making it easier to examine how optical properties vary with these parameters. Supports mouse-driven rotation, zoom, pan, cross-sectional views, direct image export, printing, and clipboard copying.
Upgraded 2D Plots: Improved readability with color-coded saved results and real-time plot coordinate displays at the mouse cursor. Users can also display custom reference lines on plots.
Revamped Color Chart Rendering: Color charts can now be displayed in full color rather than monochrome, with the option to switch back to the previous display mode.
Material Filtering: Easily find target materials within large databases by specifying target wavelength and filtering by refractive index (n) or extinction coefficient (k).
3. Architecture & Performance Boost
64-bit Architecture: The application has been migrated to a 64-bit architecture, enabling more stable operation during memory-intensive processing.
Dual Calculation Modes (Speed vs. Accuracy): Users can easily switch between Speed-Priority mode (ideal for early-stage exploratory design) and Accuracy-Priority mode (ideal for final validation).
Compatibility with TFCalc V3.6
TFCalc V5.0 can be installed alongside TFCalc V3.6.
TFCalc V5.0 supports reading and saving files in the TFCalc V3.6 format.
Software Interface Preview
System Requirements
Supported OS: Windows 11
Note: 3D plotting features require a graphics environment supporting OpenGL 3.2 or later.
Price & New Academic Pricing
To coincide with the launch of TFCalc V5.0, HULINKS is introducing special Academic Pricing for universities, technical colleges, and public research institutions. This initiative aims to make TFCalc even more accessible for educational environments, academic research labs, and coursework.
Academic License:
Eligibility: Faculty, researchers, and students affiliated with universities, technical colleges, or public research institutions.
Requirements: Registration using an email address issued by the institution and submission of valid student ID or proof of institutional affiliation.
Pricing: Available at a discount compared with the standard commercial price.
Commercial License:
New Purchase Price: USD 1,650 per license.
Upgrade pricing is available for existing V3.5 and V3.6 users. Please contact sales for detailed quotes.
Evaluation Request:
Evaluation licenses are available upon request. Please fill out the demo request form and mention "V5 Request" in the comments field:
https://www.hulinks.co.jp/en/contact/tfcalc-quote-demo-request/
Related Links:
Product Page (Current Version): https://www.hulinks.co.jp/en/tfcalc/
(The official V5.0 product page will be published on the release date.)
About HULINKS Inc.
Company Name: HULINKS Inc.
Headquarters: 6F ARGO Nihonbashi Bldg., 5-14 Nihonbashi Hakozakicho, Chuo-ku, Tokyo 103-0015 Japan
Management: Yoshimaro Fujisawa, Chairman / Hiroki Uchiyama, President
Established: September 25, 1986
Core Business: Distribution, support, system integration, and custom development of scientific/technical software, file sharing solutions, and document management software.
Website: https://www.hulinks.co.jp/en/
Media & Sales Contacts
Product Inquiries & Sales:
HULINKS Inc. Sales & Marketing Department
Email: soft.sales@hulinks.co.jp
Press & Media Inquiries:
HULINKS Inc. Sales & Marketing Division
Email: marketing@hulinks.co.jp
Website: https://www.hulinks.co.jp/en/
Microsoft, Excel, and Windows are trademarks of the Microsoft group of companies. OpenGL is a registered trademark of Hewlett Packard Enterprise. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
